Musk's $100 Wisconsin Offer Revives Election Ethics Questions

In March 2025, Elon Musk's political action committee offered $100 to Wisconsin voters who signed a petition opposing “activist judges,” ahead of a closely watched state Supreme Court race. Musk later said he would personally hand $1 million checks to two voters as spokespeople for the petition. Wisconsin's attorney general sought an emergency injunction, arguing the payments violated a state law making it a felony to offer anything of value to induce voting. The episode mattered because it tested how far a billionaire megadonor with close ties to the administration could go in using cash incentives to shape an election, and because litigation reached the state's courts before the vote. It became part of a broader pattern of Musk using his wealth to intervene directly in electoral politics during Trump's second term. The dispute was resolved through legal maneuvering rather than a definitive ruling on the merits, with Musk adjusting the terms of the giveaway after the legal challenge. The race and the ethics questions it raised remained a reference point for debates about money in elections.